Newsvine Fraud News

April 22, 2013

BYOD Abounds – Can the Enterprise Flourish in this Environment?

Mobility is the trend
of the new generation. Increased access to tablets, smartphones, robust data
networks and even Wi-Fi everywhere has extended the capabilities of the
professional in the field. When the BlackBerry first emerged on the market, the
enterprise acquired, provisioned and controlled the mobile device for the
workforce, enabling access to key applications and information, while also
monitoring activity.

The demand for increased mobility has spurred a new phenomenon – BYOD. Employees
are opting for the Bring Your Own Device to work strategy, balancing personal
and professional conversations and information on the same device. The
BlackBerry is no longer the smartphone of choice as the iPhone and Android
dominate the market. BYOD has proven to be an effective strategy with the right
policy in place, but how can it truly support the initiatives of the
enterprise?

There are a few realities that accompany the adoption of BYOD:

Employees select the brand and type of
device – while employees
enjoy the freedom of selecting their own preferred brand and operating system,
enterprise IT recognize the different challenges working in varied
environments. It may be more effective for the corporate policy to allow BYOD
to only include selected, approved brands, models and operating systems.

Employees control the level of personal
information contained on the device
– this is an important point if there is no separation between personal and corporate
information. For example, if baby pictures are mixed with corporate or customers
proprietary information, that’s a problem. Employees should be allowed to load
their own information on their own device, but it’s up to IT to provide the
technology and information to keep personal and professional information
separated on the device with the application of mobile applications.

Employees access websites, applications
and file sharing services not normally permitted by the enterprise – this is a critical threat for any
network. Users may be accessing a vulnerable hotspot, uploading information to
a file share site lacking the appropriate protections or downloading
applications with malicious software. The enterprise BYOD policy should include
guidelines to acceptable practices and mobile device management applications
can be installed that prevent risky activities. The key to the successful
application is to inform employees as to these rules and the consequences if
those rules were to be broken.

Employees may allow other people to use
their device – this reality is
difficult to address from the corporate side. Employees may be educated on the
risks involved with allowing other users to access their device, but complete
control in this area is difficult. Monitoring and management applications can
help control what the individual may do while using the device, however, which
is an important step towards protection.

Employees may not demonstrate diligence
in keeping track of their device
– regardless of how much the employee uses his or her mobile device, it can
still be lost or stolen. If that happens, the finder will have access to a wide
range of network applications, proprietary information, authentication
information and so much more. This is where keeping personal and private
information separate is crucial as IT management can remotely wipe the device
clean of any information that puts the enterprise at risk. Likewise, the
employee can opt to wipe everything if personal information lost will also put
them at risk.

While this list just
scratches the surface in terms of the realities that can affect BYOD and the
enterprise, they are important points to ensure success in this new
environment. Any corporation can resist the trend and instead purchase mobile
devices for all employees, but that may not always be the optimal choice. By
understanding the realities that exist in a BYOD environment, the enterprise is
more likely to benefit.